VOICES FROM THE FOREST: AUNTY SHARRON MIRII BELL TALKS CHILDREN, COUNTRY, AND THE FUTURE

Aunty Sharron mirii Bell, a proud Aunty Sharron mirii Bell, proud Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri woman, children’s performer and educator stands as an icon for cultural education and cultivating children’s passion for nature in Australia.

Through her work as a performer, educator, and founder of Indigenous Insights, she has dedicated her life to nurturing children’s connection to Country and inspiring them to become future caretakers of the land.

Teaching Children: We Are Nature

Aunty Sharron’s approach to education is rooted in the belief that children are not separate from nature, but an intrinsic part of it. “It’s really important that we teach children that we’re not separate from nature… we are nature,” she shares. Her workshops and concerts, delivered through Indigenous Insights, invite children to experience the world through song, dance, and storytelling, fostering a sense of belonging and respect for the environment. 

She encourages children to pause, observe the patterns in bark, the veins in leaves, and to recognise that what surrounds us is family. “We’re actually not walking on Country. We’re actually a part of it,” she explains, emphasising the deep cultural and spiritual connection First Nations people have with the land.

The Power of Story, Song, and Puppetry

Aunty Sharron’s sessions are vibrant and interactive, often featuring her beloved puppet Dhinawan the emu, a totem of her Gamilaraay heritage. 

Through Dinawan, she teaches children to listen deeply,a value embedded in Aboriginal lore. “One of the first things that we learn is to listen… that helps all the children to calm down and to sit and listen because they’ve got to listen to what Dinawan says,” she told the National Indigenous Times. Her performances, including those on ABC’s Play School and at community events like ‘Bush Kindy – Stomp with Aunty Sharron’, blend traditional and original songs, movement, and cultural storytelling, making learning about Country accessible and joyful for all children.

Advocacy Against Native Forest Logging

For Aunty Sharron, the fight to end native forest logging is deeply personal and cultural. “When I think about there being native forest logging, it just makes my heart break. I still cannot believe in this day and age that we’re still killing off so many beautiful plants and animals and environment that is so important to us. We can’t survive without it,” she says with emotion. She speaks of the cultural significance of forests,home to songlines, scar trees, and ring trees, each holding deep memory and meaning for First Nations people. The destruction of these places is not just an environmental loss, but a severing of cultural identity and history.

Empowering the Next Generation

Aunty Sharron’s advocacy is ultimately about empowering children to become stewards of the land. 

“One day they’re going to be the caretakers of Country and every living thing,” she says. She believes that if children do not understand that a tree is a living being, or that a kangaroo or dragonfly has a right and purpose to live, they will not be motivated to protect them. Her message is clear: connection brings care. Her work, including the co-creation of the children’s rights song ‘I Am Me’, reinforces every child’s right to identity, culture, and a healthy environment.

 “If they are disconnected from it, then it doesn’t mean anything,” she warns. 

A Call to Breathe with Country

Aunty Sharron’s advocacy is both poetic and urgent. “If I could say one thing to someone who doesn’t understand native forest logging, it’s: breathe with me. Because that’s how precious it is. Because once we lose everything, we don’t have our breath and we don’t have us,” she concludes.

Through her music, storytelling, and unwavering commitment, Aunty Sharron mirii Bell is nurturing a generation that will not only know Country, but love and defend it. Her voice is a vital one in the movement to end native forest logging and to ensure that children inherit a world where nature and culture thrive together.

We all need trees – to breathe, to belong, to survive. But Australia is still logging native forests. 

We’re calling on our leaders to end this destruction. Add your name to thousands of voices calling to end native forest logging in Australia before it’s too late.

It’s time to end native forest logging in NSW.